- Soonmot
- Dec 19, 2002
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Entrapta fucking loves robots
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Grimey Drawer
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CHAPTER 23
"JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME."
Insanity.
Schizophrenia.
Billy's mind was in two places at once. Helping Mo'Steel fight Tamara. Keeping the Shipwright from killing him.
He was playing two deadly chess games at once. If his concentration on Mo'Steel faltered, his friend would die. If he gave Mo'Steel too much attention, he would die himself and that, too, would equal Mo'Steel's death. So he helped Mo'Steel anticipate a rapid sequence of kicks from Tamara. And, at the same time, he followed the Shipwright — Te — onto a battlefield that existed only in an infinite, unreal dream-space where their two minds had agreed to meet. Flat black ground and white sky. A bare canvas that could become anything they had the strength to imagine.
Billy and Te were without weapons.
They would fight only with the power of their minds.
They stood facing each other. Billy's battered sneakers toe-to-toe with the Shipwright's naked birdlike feet.
Billy felt a sudden crippling pain in his feet, his calves. A pain so Intense he cried out, nearly wet his pants. He looked down and saw pea-green worms burrowing through his flesh.
No!
This wasn't real.
Billy feverishly told himself he wasn't really in this dream-space. The pain was only as real as he allowed it to be. He forced himself to ignore the agony, to imagine his legs whole and healthy. He willed the worms to disappear. Then he turned his torment into energy. He shot a lightning bolt out of his finger, nailing Te in his chest.
The Shipwright staggered backward, transparent skin glowing from the intense burst of electricity.
A pause. Billy breathed deeply. Rested. Sent another surge of energy to Mo'Steel.
Another mind swarmed into his consciousness. A vision of Jobs floated up into the dream-space. Jobs hunched over one of Mother's tactical interfaces, his mind buzzing with excitement. No time for Jobs.
Concentrate. Concentrate on his two opponents, Tamara and Te. Concentrate on —
Something falling from the sky! Something metallic and covered in glittering points. A bomb! It hit just in front of Billy and exploded. He was airborne, flying backward, feeling the shards of metal. He landed hard. For a moment — searing pain in his shoulder, his legs.
Then Billy laughed it off.
That was the best bomb the Shipwrights had created? When it came to destruction, humans were far more advanced. He dug into the history of Earth and brought an image into his mind. An ancient image, from a war that had ended more than sixty years before Billy was born.
The Shipwright looked up and saw what seemed to be a primitive bomb falling toward it.
The alien instantly surrounded itself by what looked like a protective bubble made of a translucent goo.
A blinding flash!
Dead silence. Then —
BOOM!
The Shipwright and its bubble were obliterated by a fireball rising and churning within itself. The fireball gave rise to a mushroom cloud that towered tens of thousands of feet into the air.
A series of shock waves knocked Billy to his feet. But only seconds passed before the Shipwright came crawling away from the fire. It was weak, its see-through skin marred by soot.
Attack! Attack! Billy told himself.
But Billy was distracted by Mo'Steel. Overwhelmed by the vivid image of Mo'Steel leaping across a body of water. Leaping so far he was almost airborne. Tamara was right behind him. Billy helped Mo'Steel change directions in midair, flipping over Tamara so that she became the hunted and Mo'Steel the hunter.
Billy imagined a steel box. A small steel box with the Shipwright stuffed inside. But Te was fighting him. Te's star-shaped mind was racing.
Excitement.
Billy turned, stared.
An old woman was wandering across the empty dream-space. She was hunched over, feeble. Billy felt his heart miss as she moved closer. Could she be a weapon? Should he destroy her?
Yes! Only …
What kind of weapon was this?
The woman had a human head. A head that greatly resembled his adoptive mother, Jessica. She was wearing a warm-up suit. But the arms and legs were too short. The four-fingered hands and birdlike feet of a Shipwright poked out of the arms and legs.
She wasn't a weapon.
She was an embodiment of Mother.
Billy knew it.
And he knew the Maker knew it.
Jobs jumped back. The keyboard he'd been tapping had suddenly lit up and was glowing with a soft red light. The plasma screen in front of him whirled and hummed as it came to life. Jobs glanced nervously over his shoulder. Had the Shipwright noticed? No. No, the Shipwright and Billy stood silently, still as stone. Only Billy's eyes moved, jerking rapidly beneath his closed lids.
"Just a little more time," Jobs muttered to himself.
I love a good mindscape battle. This is no Legion style dance battle, but it's still good.
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CHAPTER 24
"NO FALSE MOVES."
The Shipwright was on its birdlike feet, racing toward Mother.
Billy blinked, understood what was happening, and began to run after Te. This may have been only an embodiment of Mother, but it was a way to control her. She was offering herself up. The only question was: To whom?
Te was closing in, quickly drawing closer to the little old woman who represented the humans' best chance for survival. Billy pushed his muscles as hard as he could, but Te was faster, much faster Perhaps that was because Mother was helping it, because Mother wanted Te to win.
Then, suddenly, Billy ran into something, something very solid. He stepped back, clutching his nose. He looked up — way up — at a stone wall. The wall was very high and seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon.
Te was on the other side.
So was Mother
Billy stretched his arms out and pressed his body against the wall.
He'd lost.
"A firewall," Jobs muttered angrily.
Of course, that wasn't it exactly. The block Mother had created was far more elaborate, subtle, and sophisticated than anything the most creative programmer on Earth had ever dreamed into being.
Jobs had to erase it.
He had to get rid of the block before the Shipwright killed Billy.
Jobs's hands were shaking; his body was slick with cold sweat. He was breathing in shallow gasps. He closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath. Nothing doing. His chest was in a vise grip screwed down tight. One false move and Mother would lock him out of the system forever One miss and what remained of humanity would live out their lives as slaves of the Shipwrights or worse.
"Okay, then," Jobs muttered to himself. "No false moves." His fingers began to move over the keyboard.
Creaking.
Groaning.
A shudder moved through the wall.
Billy stepped back, looked up. A crack was growing in the massive fortress. Far, far overhead a stone the size of a dump truck wiggled loose and began to fall a thousand feet from the top of the wall.
"Ahhhh!" Billy called out.
He ran, stumbling in his panic. The stone hit the ground with a tremendous Impact. Billy fell, scrambled to his feet, ran again. Another stone hit and knocked him down.
Billy glanced backward and gasped when he saw that the stones weren't falling randomly. They were forming a crude stairway with each step nearly as tall as Billy. He changed direction, crossed the distance to the first stone, put his hands on top, and pulled himself up. Then the next stone. Billy kept going, climbing five or six stories, until he could see over the partially crumbled wall.
The old woman — Mother — stood in the middle of the vast white plain. The Shipwright was grabbing at her, trying to force her down onto the ground. She struggled, crying out, beating the alien off with weak slaps and kicks. There was no way down. No staircase led to the other side of the wall. Billy was trapped on the edge, seventy feet in the air. Stretching his hands out toward Mother, he let out a scream of frustration that echoed back at him. He had to stop the Shipwright, Even if it meant his own death. Even if it meant Mo'Steel's. Tears flowing, Billy expanded his mind. He let go of Mo'Steel. He let go of Jobs. He reached out for
Mother with every fiber, forgetting everything else. Mother cried out, her own scream an exact duplicate of Billy's. The old woman dissolved into a whirlwind that slipped through the Shipwright's grasp. Spinning furiously toward Billy, moving with blinding speed, the whirlwind crossed the dream-scape and disappeared into Billy's screaming mouth.
Billy shuddered violently. Foam formed in the corners of his mouth. Jobs turned from the keyboard, his attention split between the computer and his friend. Should he keep working? Or could he do something to help Billy?
Jobs didn't dare leave the computer. Billy seemed to be losing his battle. Jobs was worried he might have only a few more seconds to hack into Mother.
"Billy!" Jobs yelled. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." Billy spoke without moving, making Jobs wonder if he was hearing things. Jobs looked down at his shaking hands. The keyboard's red glow had been replaced by a blue one. Jobs wasn't sure what the change meant, but he knew it was major.
The dream-scape disappeared. Billy was aware of himself standing sneaker-to-feet with the Shipwright on the bridge. The alien looked exactly the same, but its mind felt different. Its fear was so strong Billy could taste it.
Fear of Billy.
Fear of failing his people.
Fear of death.
"You are not human," the Shipwright said.
Billy could sense Jobs's thoughts bubbling up: interest, curiosity, repulsion. His fingers rested on the alien keyboard, but he was concentrating on Billy and the Shipwright.
"I am human," Billy said.
A memory flashed in his mind. For an instant, it was vivid and powerful. Then it receded into the mists, leaving Billy with only shadowy images. Shapes surrounding him. A field of energy pulsating.
What did the memory mean?
Billy shook it off. It meant nothing! It was nothing but a remembered hallucination.
But why was it so vague?
Billy's memories were always clear. Even the things that hadn't happened to him were clear. He could remember the cloying smell of fresh soil in the hole where Yago had spent a terrifying night. The wet sound of Kubrick's skin separating from his muscle. Billy could see these and a billion more vivid details. So why was this one memory so fuzzy?
"Something is happening to the Shipwright!"
Jobs. Sounding amazed and terrified.
Yes. The racing pulses of its brain were slowing. Even the taste of its fear was fading.
"The ancient enemy," the Shipwright said. Then the pulses stopped. The taste disappeared. Billy's knees gave out. Exhaustion hit him like a hammer to the skull. He sat down hard with barely the energy to breathe, to keep his heart beating.
Jobs appeared at his side. "Is it gone?"
Billy nodded, depressed by his victory. Yes, the Shipwright whose ancestors had created this ship was gone. The humans had prevailed over their environment once again.
"Can you get up?" Jobs asked.
Billy did a mental check and found strength pouring into his muscles, his bloodstream, his cells.
He stood up.
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CHAPTER 25
"JUST NAPPING."
"Kick!" Mo'Steel commanded his legs.
The only response was a feeble twitch. The strange, wonderful, superhuman power had drained out of him. Mo'Steel felt its loss desperately. No more incredible leaps. No more clinging to the walls.
And besides, now it was all over,
Tamara towered over him. Then, suddenly, her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped forward, landing half on top of him.
Was she dead?
Excited, scared, disgusted, Mo'Steel used the last of his energy to push her off him. She was still alive. Her eyelids fluttered. Tate came running. She looked into Mo'Steel's eyes, then bent to examine Tamara.
"Her pulse is faint," Tate said, her brow wrinkled with worry. "Are you okay?"
"Tired," Mo'Steel said. "Thirsty."
Tate reached over and gave him an impulsive hug. "I'm so glad you're alive! Both of you. I thought..."
"Yeah," Mo'Steel said. "Me, too."
Billy and Jobs emerged from one of the rooms. They came down the hallway toward the others. Mo'Steel thought Billy looked different. Bigger almost. More powerful. Jobs followed half a step behind him.
Mo'Steel pulled himself to his knees. Tate helped him to his feet. He felt as if he had just powered through three back-to-back quadathlons. Every muscle, every joint, every bone ached.
"Mo!" Jobs yelled. "You don't look too good."
"You should see the other guy," Mo'Steel mumbled.
Jobs eyed Tamara. "Is she dead?"
Mo'Steel shook his head, making himself see stars. "Nah. Just napping. What happened to the Shipwright?"
Jobs glanced at Billy. "They had a fight"
"And?" Tate demanded.
"Billy won," Jobs said.
Billy met Tate's gaze. "Tamara is free."
Tate swallowed hard and nodded numbly, tears in her eyes.
"I need to go downstairs," Billy said. He started toward the elevator
"I'll stay here with Tamara," Tate said.
Mo'Steel nodded, fell into step next to Jobs. The three boys stepped onto one platform. The platform glowed with life and they began to descend slowly.
"Nice ride," Mo'Steel said, smiling at Billy. "Smooth."
Jobs grinned, too. "Yeah, I don't even feel like puking. Of course, my stomach is empty from the ride up."
The corners of Billy's mouth twitched upward, but his gaze was distant. Mo'Steel felt suddenly uneasy about what was going to happen when they reached the environment. The fact that Billy looked so gloomy couldn't be a good sign. Billy had beaten the Shipwright. They should be celebrating.
"Hey, 'migo, you okay?" Mo'Steel asked Billy.
Billy studied him for a moment before speaking. "Mo, do you think I'm human?"
Mo'Steel barked out a nervous laugh. Shot a worried look at Jobs. "Sure you're human," he said. "What else would you be?"
"I — I don't know."
The platform came to a rest. The boys stepped off.
"Romeo!" Olga shouted.
Mo'Steel went to his mother, gave her a hug. Violet, 2Face, and Edward surrounded Jobs. He told them about the Shipwright. The babble of voices rose as the others questioned Jobs, tried to figure out what this latest development meant for them.
"What happened to you?" Olga demanded urgently. "You're shaking. Your clothes are soaked. Are you okay?"
"Fine," Mo'Steel said. And, actually, he was starting to feel better. Still thirsty, though. "Everyone here okay?"
"A Rider attacked us," Olga reported shakily. "Anamull is wounded. A stab wound on his leg. Nothing serious. All of the rest of us are fine. I guess."
Mo'Steel looked out onto the battlefield. Amazingly, sadly, the battle still raged. The Meanies had apparently regrouped and renewed their attack after the Shipwright disappeared. The Riders still shouted their piercing war cry, but now they sounded hoarse and weary. Their hoverboards moved over the bodies of their enemies and their Clansmen as they continued to throw spears and boomerangs skyward.
Billy climbed the steps of the pyramid. While the others stared up at him in disbelief, Billy faced the battlefield and raised his arms in the air.
"Stop this!" he yelled.
"We have to stop him," Olga said urgently. "They'll kill him. Billy, get down!"
Mo'Steel held his mother back. "Wait. I think it's okay."
In a way, Mo'Steel was right. None of the Meanies or Riders attacked Billy. But they also didn't stop fighting. Billy drew his arms to his chest and closed his eyes.
The Rider environment vanished. The hills, the coppery ocean, the strange spastic trees, the pink sky all disappeared. In their place appeared two towering stone walls. The pyramid, the battlefield, the Meanies, the Riders, and the humans were all contained within the space between the two walls.
That got the Riders' and the Meanies' attention.
Meanies circled without firing. Riders' weapons dropped at their sides as they turned to stare at Billy. Mo'Steel, Olga, and the other Remnants stared, too. Billy stood on the top of the pyramid. He held his arms wide, holding up the walls with the strength of his mind. The threat was unspoken but clear. Time to listen or get splattered.
"Enough fighting," Billy commanded.
With that, the battle ended.
The Riders dropped their boomerangs and spears. They rode their hoverboards in confused circles, gradually coalescing in a worried little knot. Withdrawing their cutting wings, the Blue Meanies landed together in a small huddle, tentacles waving furiously.
The humans, too, drew together
Mo'Steel tore his eyes from Billy to study the faces around him. Noyze and Dr Cohen were exchanging brilliant smiles of pure relief. Violet and Jobs stood together, their fingers barely touching, eyes wide, jaws slack. Awed. Kubrick looked disappointed. No doubt he hated to see a good fight end.
2Face glanced toward Mo'Steel. Her dark eyes were cold with something very much like hatred.
* * *
This was not the Path.
Yago was destined to destroy Tamara. He and his loyal supporters. Not Billy. Not a freak.
Yago could not stand it. He could not have others competing with him.
He was the One.
The only One.
Billy would have to be destroyed.
And that's the end of the book. Yeah as Jim posted above, we're at the halfway point. Looks like Yago is gonna be a problem again, so that'll be something to look forward to, but what's up with 2Face? Nice to see Jobs and Violet realizing they're the opposites attract couple.
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May 15, 2024 01:04
